One of the top athlete recruits in the Midwest for the class of 2014 will be Dareian Watkins of Galion High School in Ohio. The 6-foot-2, 192-pound prospect already has multiple BCS offers on the table and more will be comings. This past weekend he was in East Lansing to check out Michigan State University. Find out the latest.

Watkins is seeing his recruiting stock rise significantly the last few months and he currently holds scholarship offers from Northwestern, Illinois, Toledo, Ohio, Bowling Green and Akron. The Spartans as well as Ohio State, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Louisville and Pittsburgh are all showing him a significant amount of interest at this point.

Watkins is listed as an athlete recruits due to the fact that he could play multiple positions at the next level. Most schools view him as a wide receiver due to his excellent size and ball skills. However, a few schools are willing to give him a shot at quarterbacks. As a sophomore Watkins passed for 1,256 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for another 559 yards and 10 touchdowns. He recent had the following to say where he could play at the next level.

"Lately I have been really wanting to play receiver because I enjoy receiver. It is fun and comes natural," Watkins said. "At quarterback I have the ball every play and the game is more hands, so I like that too."

One of the interesting aspects of Watkins season so far is that he has been playing with a torn meniscus that he is getting surgery for today. Despite the injury he has help lead his team to a 3-1 record and this past weekend he scored 3 touchdowns, including one on a 66-yard quarterback keeper.

Watkins talked about his visit to Michigan State University on Saturday night.

"The facilities at Michigan State were awesome and the atmosphere was electric since it was a night game. The visit went real well. I even got to take a picture with Coach Izzo so that was cool. Coach Tressel is my recruiter from Michigan State. They have not talked about an offer, but they said it is pretty amazing what I have done since my injury."

The Spartans have yet to offer Watkins a scholarship, but it may just be a situation of the staff getting his senior highlight film an evaluating it. Michigan State is known for being very thorough in the evaluation process. It would not be a surprise if Coach Dantonio wants Watkins back on campus this winter for a junior day event.

As far as where Michigan State would stand if they do decide to offer Watkins had the following to say

"Michigan State would stand pretty high because I have always liked them."

Watkins is not in a hurry to make his college choice. He plans on traveling out to Illinois at some point this fall to see what the Illini have to offer. He will also probably take in a few more Big Ten games this fall. A return visit to Michigan state when the Spartans take on Nebraska or Northwestern is a possibility.

SpartanMag.com Take:

Watkins is a big athletic wide receiver prospect that would seem to be a very good fit in the Spartans pro-style offense. The fact that he does not play wide receiver could mean that the staff may wait to see him perform at that position at a camp or combine before they pull the trigger. Spartanmag.com will be sure to follow Watkins' recruitment over the coming weeks. We fully expect he will be one of the top 25 players in talent rich Ohio for the class of 2014.